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Solar-energy industry taking a shine to San Luis

The sun shines more intensely on the San Luis Valley than any place in Colorado, and federal officials, utilities and solar developers are scurrying to capture some of that energy.

A federal plan to open 22 million acres in the West to solar development — including 170,000 acres in Colorado — is set to be presented to the public Monday night in Alamosa.

Meanwhile, four solar developers are pushing ahead with projects on private lands in the valley that would add about 450 megawatts of electricity generation — enough to power more than 110,000 homes.

"We see the valley as being able to export renewable energy, but there are questions on the appropriate way to do it," said Christine Canaly, director of the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council.

How to develop, as well as the financial questions surrounding the number of plants that will actually be built, still must be answered.

The Obama administration put a "bull's-eye on the development of solar energy," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in 2009, when he designated 24 "solar energy zones" — with four in the San Luis Valley — for fast-track development.

The 24 zones, covering 670,000 acres, were chosen because development would have limited environmental impact and they were all close to roads and transmission lines.

Environmental groups supported the approach, but the draft plan proposed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is now drawing fire.

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The draft expands the land available to 22 million acres in the West and from 21,000 acres in Colorado to 170,000 acres.

"There is a disconnect in the bureau's approach," said Johanna Wald, an attorney in San Francisco with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental group.

"The idea of the zones was to make development cheaper and better by reducing conflicts and speeding reviews," Wald said. "By opening all these additional acres, including land that is unacceptable for development, we are back to square one."

Ray Brady, the manager of the BLM's energy policy team in Washington, said there are 98 million acres of potentially developable solar lands and the 22 million selected represent the areas with the fewest environmental impacts.

"The acreage provides more flexibility in development," Brady said. "Projects would be decided on a case-by-case basis and have a full environmental impact statement review."

The BLM estimates that solar development over the next 20 years will be 24,000 megawatts in the West requiring 214,000 acres.

"All that development would easily fit in the solar energy zones, so why open so much extra land?" asked Alex Daue, renewable energy coordinator for the Wilderness Society, a national environmental group.

The society analyzed the four zones in the San Luis Valley and found them largely acceptable for solar development, Daue said.

A solar developer already has expressed interest is putting solar panel arrays on two of the four zones, said Joe Vieira, manager of the BLM's renewable energy team based in Monte Vista.

Meanwhile, proposals for solar developments on private land continue to pop up in the valley.

The first facility to go into operation was a SunEdison 8.2-megawatt photovoltaic plant in 2007.

A second, 17-megawatt photovoltaic plant built by SunPower Corp. is set to provide power this year, and a third, 30-megawatt plant is being built by Iberdrola Renewables Inc.

A $150 million, 30-megawatt plant by Cogentrix, using technology that concentrates the solar energy on solar panels, was announced in August.

All these plants have purchase power agreements with Xcel Energy.

Two bigger projects — that do not yet have purchase agreements and use a solar technology that turns turbines — are in earlier stages of development.

Tessera Solar is proposing a 1,500-acre facility in Saguache County that will use 8,000 38-foot-diameter mirrored solar dishes to catch the sun's heat to use in turning a turbine.

The technology is, however, expensive, and the company had to abandon two projects in California. It is $15,000 in arrears in its escrow account with Saguache County, according to Wendi Maez, the county land-use director.

The project has been controversial because it is sited on wetlands and grazing lands.

A second concentrating solar power project with a 656-foot-tall tower that holds molten salt storage, allowing for electricity generation at night, is being proposed by Santa Monica, Calif.-based SolarReserve.

The project would involve two 100- megawatt developments, each with a tower. Each phase would cost about $600 million, said Andrew Wang, SolarReserve's project manager.

SolarReserve is set to break ground on projects in Nevada and Utah this year, Wang said.

A number of wildlife and environmental issues were raised at a public hearing last fall, and the company is conducting studies to answer the questions and expects to file its application to Saguache County in the spring, Wang said.

Views on the valley's future are mixed.

"Conejos County is one of the poorest in the state, so we are all for development," said Olive Valdez, whose ranch is about a mile from one of the BLM solar energy zones.

But Ceal Smith, one of the organizers of San Luis Valley Renewable Communities, said: "We don't want to become a sacrifice zone for renewable energy. ... It seems we've had one project after another to deal with."

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